It is hard for us to swallow as parents, but Ava has had her first birthday. I remember sitting in the hospital with out little newborn like it was yesterday! What a difference a year makes. It has been a busy week with the 12 month well check at the doctor, professional pictures, and juggling my responsibilities at both the clinic and my job at MN West.
Playing in the pantry with the blanket on her head!
Here is the skinny on Ava at 12 Months
Weight: 22 lbs, 10 oz (75th percentile)
Height: 30 inches (80th percentile)
Teeth: Still 4 on top and 1 on the bottom. The one on the bottom looks to be completely in, but all four on top are not all completely in. It does seem like it is taking forever!
Sleep: Daylight savings time has messed us up a little. Ava goes to bed a little earlier now (around 8 pm) and sleeps until 6:45-7:00 am. She still takes a morning and afternoon nap that totals around 3-4 hours.
Movement: It seems that any minute, Ava could take off walking. She crawls with lightning speed, pulls up on everything, cruises along all the furniture, and will stand for several seconds without holding on to anything. She is into everything right now. There is nothing that holds her back. She is obsessed with how doors work, pulling drawers open and closed, and she loves to get into the bathrooms. Her favorites there are standing next to the tub and standing next to the toilet (which does motivate me to keep things extra clean :)
Eating: Ava will eat just about anything. She loves her oatmeal and bananas for breakfast and eats whatever we eat for lunch and supper. She does not eat any fruit by itself, but eats all veggies we have tried. She also loves hotdishes and soups. She has adjusted to whole milk well and also likes her juice in her sippy cup.
Communication: Ava is quite vocal. It seems she is constantly jabbering about something or trying to get our attention. She tries to copy a lot of words we say and gets pretty close sometimes, but does not say a lot on command yet. She can sign a little...we have taught her "more" and "all done". I am not sure she knows what they mean, but she smiles and copies us when we sign.
Overall, we had a good visit to the doctor this week. Ava seems to be a healthy girl. She did have a slightly low hemoglobin, but nothing to be alarmed about. We will recheck it in 5-6 weeks. We also found out that the dreaded clogged tear duct is not going to improve on its own just as I had expected. We were referred to Dr. West in Sioux Falls who is a pediatric opthamologist. He recommended that we do surgery to open her tear duct or she would be plagued with a constant infection in her eye. The chances of it clearing up on its own are very slim after one year of age. The surgery sounds pretty routine and brief, so hopefully Ava will tolerate it well. We are only supposed to be at the hospital 2-3 hours and then sent home with no pain medications, just antibiotic eye drops. The surgery date is set for December 12th. Please keep us in your prayers that day.
